Higashigaoka Ski Area is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 13 and 67 m. Its mapped area is about 0.4 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 191 cm of snowfall a season, 277th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2016/17 (138 cm), reached 72% of the average. January is usually the snowiest month, with about 61 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 10.8 km away measured 521 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 207 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −4.5 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 201st of 397 in Japan.
Below is a link to its official live camera.
Snow depth and the seven-day outlook appear here once snow starts to fall. Until then, the long-run record comes first.
Elevation range is estimated by sampling points across the ski area.
How much snow it gets
Measured by us across 3,069 ski areas by one identical method. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.
The quality score deliberately excludes how much snow falls — it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind. Snowing a lot and snowing well are different things.
Compared with what is nearby
Within 50 km straight line. Measured the same way, so the ranks compare directly. Ski areas a few kilometres apart share a weather grid cell and can return the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyotomi Ski Area | 6.3 km | 191 cm | 1235 |
| Teshio Chomin Ski Area | 13 km | 201 cm | 1140 |
| Nakatonbestucho Eikotobuki | 34 km | 221 cm | 945 |
| Sarufutsu Sonei Ski Area | 40 km | 215 cm | 995 |
| Wakkanaishi Komadori Ski Area | 43 km | 224 cm | 924 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 57% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 35 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 191 cm, and 5 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2016/17 with 138 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 246 cm (1.8 times as much).
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
Runs and lifts
Counted from the marked runs and lifts on the map, within 2.5 km of the centre of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Lift types
- J-bar1
Source: OpenStreetMap (ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Difficulty uses the European grades, which do not map onto North American green / blue / black.
Live Cameras
This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.
Road conditions decide whether you can get there at all. Check before you leave.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 豊富 weather station — 10.8 km from this ski area, 26 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 521 cm |
| 2023/24 | 568 cm |
| 2024/25 | 574 cm |
| 2025/26 | 421 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 207 cm.
A weather station is not a ski slope. We picked one at a similar elevation, but it stands in a valley or a village. More snow falls on the mountain above it. We have not tried to guess how much more.
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency historical records
Worth seeing nearby
Places within 20 km of this ski area, for a day off the slopes or an evening. Chosen from those most read about on Wikipedia, favouring places with an English Wikipedia article, and listed nearest first.
| Place | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 豊富温泉 | Hot spring town | 6.1 km |
| Panke-numaパンケ沼 | Nature | 10.9 km |
| Sarobetsu Plainサロベツ原野 | Nature | 13.2 km |
| 川口遺跡 | Historic site | 16.5 km |
Based on the Japanese Wikipedia lists of sights in each prefecture, as compiled in travel-log-data (CC BY-SA 4.0). English names from Wikidata (CC0). The content of this section is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map
Where it sits relative to nearby resorts. For a piste map, see the official site.
Official piste map ↗Places to stay nearby
6 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 民宿旅館サロベツ（サロベツ会館） | ¥5,500 | 3.64 185 reviews | 0.9 km | 特急のとまるＪＲ幌延駅から徒歩で１分（ＪＲ幌延駅すぐ前です） 稚内空港から車で４０分 旭川から２００Km |
| スマートホテル幌延 | ¥7,500 | 3.44 77 reviews | 0.8 km | JR宗谷本線幌延駅から徒歩3分 稚内空港から車で約40分 旭川から約200㎞ |
| ビジネスホテル北斗荘＜北海道＞ | — | 4.08 71 reviews | 0.8 km | JR幌延駅より徒歩5分、幌富バイパス・幌延ICより車で3分、稚内空港より車で約１時間 |
| ビジネス旅館 光栄荘 | — | — | 0.9 km | 幌延駅より徒歩２分 |
| 民泊たかはし／民泊 | — | — | 0.9 km | 幌延駅から徒歩で約１分 |
| 民宿名山荘 | — | — | 1.2 km | 幌延駅より徒歩１１分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
4 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Hokkaido
- A Historic El Niño Is Forecast. Here Is What the Last Big One Did to Japan's Snow. NOAA gives a very strong El Niño better than a 90% chance this winter. We measured every Japanese ski area across the last 12 winters: El Niño winters ran 88% of normal, and the strongest of the twelve left Japan at 63%. But Hakuba held 92% of its average that winter while Niseko fell to 57%.
- Which Famous Ski Resorts Actually Get the Most Snow? 24 Names, Measured Niseko is 526th in the world for snowfall. Zermatt is 554th, Jackson Hole 924th, Aspen 1,201st. Measured identically across 3,069 ski areas, the names everyone books and the places it actually snows turn out to be two different lists.
- Australia Just Had Its Worst Season in Twenty Years. Here Is What Japan's 12-Winter Record Says About Booking It Instead. Snow depth at Spencers Creek peaked at 94.5 cm, the third lowest since 1954, and resorts closed in August. Our own measure — snowfall, not depth — puts Australia at 50% of its 12-year average. The gap between those two numbers is the story: it was the warmth, not only the lack of snow. New Zealand, meanwhile, finished at 108% of normal.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52